Alberto Culver to buy U.K. skin-care company

Alberto Culver Co., the maker of TRESemme and Nexxus hair-care products, agreed to buy Simple Health & Beauty Ltd. for about $390 million to expand in the U.K., its largest foreign market.

The Melrose Park-based company is acquiring Simple, a skin-care company, from U.K. private-equity fund Duke Street and will pay "substantially" from existing cash, according to a statement today. The purchase is expected to close by the end of the year, Alberto Culver said.

Simple had estimated sales of about 65 million pounds this year, Alberto Culver said. The purchase will help improve margins, it said, without being specific.

"Simple is a brand that we have followed for a long time due to its strong, differentiated positioning in the skin care category," Alberto Culver Chief Executive Officer V. James Marino said in the statement. "We'll continue to leverage Simple's brand strength to drive future growth."

Alberto Culver has been expanding in the skin-care market in the past year. In October 2008, it acquired the Noxzema skin- care brand from Procter & Gamble Co. for an undisclosed price.

Alberto Culver added 20 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $28.74 at 10:04 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Before today, the shares had gained 16 percent.